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Gary Goodridge showed up to fight in Budapest, Hungary today. He did not expect to have to fight two opponents - Nemeth “Tatar” Gabor AND the referee. According to Gary Goodridge’s Facebook page, “Big Daddy” Goodridge left the match during the second round. Goodridge announced on his site that Gabor constantly held onto the ropes and the referee never stopped the behavior nor docked Gabor any points. Instead, the referee docked Goodridge points in the first round for no apparent reasons.
As Goodridge mentions on the site, the audience did not care about the tactics that Gabor was utilizing as he was their hometown fighter. Goodridge goes on to say that “A fight is hard enough as it is, at age 42…I have to fight the opponent and the referee, and then I get all the penalties too…whatever… they can take their bullshit and I’m walking out of this one…:” Goodridge is outraged in his posting and continues to say that he “felt that this was set up from the beginning. I was mad as hell at the referee’s lack of professionalism and not following fighting rules…”
Unfortunately, footage has yet to be made available for the fight but Goodridge describes the first round from his point of view in detail on his profile page.
It was the first round and we both went into ring. I gave some great kicks to Tatar, my opponent. Then I did my usual strategy of putting up my gloves to cover my face while my opponent tires out. The referee stopped the match at this point, and took points away from me for no apparent reason. There was some protest in both corners, mine and his. … Read MoreThen the match continued…
Boxing happened as per expected, and I gave some kicks and punches out, but mostly kicks as this was my winning strategy going in…Tatar held onto the ropes 20 times up to his arm pits. John Gnap told me it looked like a professional wrestling match.
I got behind my opponent and grabbed his legs to pull him off the ropes…the referee then stopped the match again and gave Tatar no penalty points. Once the match was started again, I took my opponent down to the mat. I was in control on top, and was looking for an arm bar. Just then, the referee stopped the fight again and made us stand.
Goodridge, who has always been a professional in his fourteen years of over 40 MMA fights, goes on to describe the second round events that continued to frustrate him and eventually led to his exiting the fight.
After a 2 minute break it was round 2, and we both exchanged punches. My opponent pushed me into ropes, and I snuck out many times and gave him some knees. He was grabbing onto the ropes again to escape from my attack. John Gnap later told me that he had slapped Tatar’s hands about 10 times for holding the ropes, but it took a long while before the referee stopped the match again. At this point, I was pretty ticked off.
The referee wanted to start us again by the end of round 2, but I walked out of the ring, went to the change room, took a shower, and left the venue to go back to the hotel…this is the first time I have walked out of the ring in my 14 years of fighting…
Goodridge claims in his post that popular Hungarian boxing writer, Janos Perutek, was at the fight and contacted Gary in the locker room. Perutek apparently agreed with Goodridge’s antics and said that the behavior of the referee and opponent were shameful and he apologized on behalf of his country. Perutek agreed to write up the fight as a “No Contest”. The Hungarian website http://www.monokli.com also mentions that the hefty Gabor continually clung to the ropes throughout the fight.
Attempts to contact Nemeth Gabor have so far proven to be unsuccessful.
I know this isn't big news but the first i've ever heard of a fighter doing this and its quite displeasing.

Instant replay has become an institution for most major sporting events all over the world, and last year the sport of mixed martial arts stepped into that arena when the New Jersey Athletic Control Board instituted the policy, and now it has been instituted in practice as well.

The California State Athletic Commission is one week away from rolling out a new program to streamline and strengthen the drug testing process in one of the country’s biggest hotbeds for MMA. Newly minted Assistant Executive Officer Bill Douglas finalized the program on Tuesday, and said it will take effect at two upcoming California events, a Roy Englebrecht-promoted boxing card and King of the Cage event scheduled for Dec. 11. The CSAC will now conduct steroid testing with one of two World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) labs in the country at the University of California, Los Angeles. In early November, the CSAC became its exclusive client for combat sports testing. Among other clients, the UCLA lab currently handles steroid testing for the NFL, NCAA, and the U.S. Olympic Team.

The on-again off-again pattern that is Renato Sobral being on the upcoming Affliction card now has him on again. He won't be fighting Matt Lindland as previously planned but will be fighting someone on the card at 205. No word yet on who his opponent will be.

Kimo Leopoldo ‘Can We Get Some Old School Fighters Here?’
Mixed Martial Arts Legend Kimo Leopoldo recently talked with PDG about his career, the resignation of CSAC’s Armando Garcia, the UFC, Kimbo Slice, Ken Shamrock, the history of MMA and the battles that were in the early days of “No Holds Barred’ fighting.

PDG: So do you think that this influx of new fighters that may be lacking the credentials is watering down the talent pool in mixed martial arts? Kimo: Yes but that is only part of it; it also falls on the shoulders of the matchmakers and all of the new rules put in place to “protect the fighters”. I know some of this stuff is in place to help fighters build their record up but in the past it was anybody, any place and at any time. Now it's more like let me see if this fight is okay with my coach and manager. Kimbo Slice had that fire, Ken Shamrock had it, Tank Abbott had that fire, Royce Gracie had it and I had it. The old-school fighters know exactly what I am talking about.

Lyoto Machida has become one of the most polarizing figures in MMA today, and somehow, he's done it without opening his mouth. (Take note, Tito.) His incredible fighting ability coupled with a defensive style has stymied opponents and unnerved fans alike. He now takes a moment to address these issues among others in a Bloody Elbow exclusive. Enjoy the interview; he doesn't give many.

Speaking on his MySpace blog, Sanchez revealed:
“So my account got hacked and it took a while to get it fixed, but I’m back. I’m training hard and will be dropping down to fight at 155. I will keep you all posted on the info of the fight! But I promise you all that I will do my best to win.”

Almost as soon as it was revealed "Razor" Rob McCullough's fight with Marcus Hicks has been scratched from WEC 38 on Jan. 25 in San Diego, Calif.
McCullough's manager, Ken Pavia of MMA Agents, informed MMAWeekly.com of the change. Citing a grueling 16-week camp the former lightweight champion went through in preparation for his last fight with Donald Cerrone at WEC 36, Pavia said McCullough would not be ready to face Hicks.

Yes, Dana White keeping proverbial TUF 8 bad boy Junie Browning around despite his should've been kicked off 3 times may have helped ratings, but according to MMA book author David Mayeda, PhD, it may also have hurt the evolution and mainstream acceptance of MMA as a whole.

Apparently being boring doesn't work against you if you can get the job done. In a recent interview with Sensei SporTV via TATAME, Dana White says that should Anderson Silva retire as planned, Lyoto Machida could become the best P4P fighter in the world.

Former long time light heavyweight champion, Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell has 100% ruled out a February fight with Anderson Silva, saying no one has spoken to him recently and the same was said about the proposed June fight with former heavyweight champion Randy Couture.

From the sound of things, he isn’t interested in just dipping his toe in the UFC middleweight waters, either. He’s doing a cannonball aimed straight at Anderson Silva:
I’m not going to the UFC with a white flag. My flag is red, I’m declaring war. It’s always like that, all fighters when he grabs the microphone says the same thing, they challenge every fighter in the world, except Anderson Silva. A lot of folks don’t have what it takes, before even fighting they’re all ready yellow. I’m not going to do that, it would really disappointing to my fans. I’m the only fighter who wants to fight him, and the only one who has what it takes to beat him.

Another lightweight bout between Kurt Pellegrino (12-4) and Rob Emerson Record (8-6) is in the works for UFC Fight Night 17 at The Palms Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 7.
Already, the Spike TV special features two other 155-pound match ups between Mac Danzig and Josh Neer, as well as Joe Lauzon and Hermes Franca, respectively.
Pellegrino will look to string together consecutive wins for the first time in more than a year. “Batman” is coming off a solid unanimous decision win over Thiago Tavares at UFC 88: “Breakthrough” back in September.
He has flirted with being recognized as a top competitor in a very crowded division on numerous occasions throughout his career; however, he has been plagued by inconsistency in recent bouts. Pellegrino can get back in the thick of things in 2009 with an early win to start the year over a surging Emerson.